250th Anniversary of Seychelles |28 August 2020

Guests appreciating a moutya dance

 Tribute paid to the initial landing spot

According to history, 250 years ago in 1770 on the Island of Ste Anne, the history of our beautiful nation came to life when 15 white colonists, eight slaves, including one woman named Marie and five Indians came ashore and began the first settlement.

It was precisely on August 27 that the ship Thélemaque under the command of Captain Leblanc Lecore landed the first colonists on Ste Anne.

To commemorate the event, a special symbolic gathering took place yesterday on the island, exactly 250 years since our forefathers set foot there, leading to the birth of the Seychellois nation.

The ceremony, which was officially launched by the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Sherin Francis in the presence of the Mayor of Victoria David Andre, included reflection, poetry, songs and dance.

In her opening remarks, Mrs Francis reminded those present that throughout our young history, our islands have witnessed various landmark events that have shaped our beautiful nation, as we know it.

She explained that our archives hold historical documents reminding us of the first settlement of 1770; the humble beginning of our unique capital in 1772; the transition from French to English rule in 1815; our greatest chapter being the rise as an independent nation with a unique language and culture in 1976.

“250 years later, the voyage continues and our young nation still has much to accomplish,” she added.

Mrs Francis added that 2020 was expected to be a momentous year for Seychelles and despite the challenges it is facing due to the pandemic, cutting back the celebrations, we are no less proud of this milestone.

She also thanked all partners and collaborators for their contribution in making the celebration a success, even on a small scale.

First sightings

Although the first settlement in the Seychelles dates back to 1770, the islands had already been sighted long before.

It is thought that they were discovered in the 7th century by some Arab sailors, of whose visits vague evidence remains today. In 1602, Vasco da Gama sighted the archipelago and indicated it on his maps under the name of "Tres Irmãos", the three brothers. Today this name is used in French to indicate three iconic mountain peaks of Mahé (Trois Frères). However, the first Europeans to set foot in the Seychelles were British: the British East India Company landed here in 1609, but did not settle.

The arrival of the French

It was 140 years later that France turned its attention to the Seychelles, with the aim of finding a faster passage from Mauritius to India.

The French administrator of Mauritius, Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, sent the explorer Lazare Picault to discover the archipelago. In 1742 Picault landed on the island which today bears the name of the administrator: Mahé.

Origin of the name ‘Seychelles’

When the French explorer Lazare Picault landed on Mahé in 1742, he was struck by its fertile and luxuriant appearance and called it Ile de l'Abondance. When he returned two years later to map it better, he renamed it Mahé in honour of Mahé de la Bourdonnais, his patron and administrator of Mauritius.

Later Mahé took the name of Isle de Séchelles in honour of Viscount Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Minister of Finance during the reign of Louis XV. Later, this name (anglicised to Seychelles) became the name of the entire archipelago, while Mahé returned to be used for the main island.

The French decided to settle in the Seychelles both to take advantage of its strategic position in relation to India and to start growing spices in an attempt to compete with the Dutch spice trade. In 1770, 15 settlers, together with a dozen slaves, settled in the Seychelles. Subsequently, large quantities of slaves were brought from Mauritius (Creoles born of African and European parents), Madagascar, Mozambique and, to a lesser extent, India. In the first century of settlement, the Seychelles had few inhabitants, but very varied origins. This led to a strong mix of ethnic groups and determined the multi-ethnic and multicultural character of the population, which is still visible today.

Roland Duval/ www.seyvillas.com